UVA's 2004 defensive playbook (when Al was DC)

[Coach Macho]

This is almost identical to some of the stuff I run, only my ILB's are called "Mike" and "Will" and my weakside OLB is the "Rush". That "Under 6" play is something I run frequently.

In the Cover-2, the CB is reading #2. The CB will sink until something shows in the flats. If #2 doesn't go to flat (i.e. he runs inside or vertical) the CB will 'man' #1. If #2 and #1 run vertical then it turns into Cover-4 on that side. If it turns into Cover-4 then the LB to that side of the ball must "expand" with #3 (could be a RB) to the flats.

If Miami's willing to sign a bunch of small, slow white kids then I can provide them with plenty of players who will understand their scheme from day one. LOL
But all jokes aside, you can see why most of our kids are having a hard time. This is alot of stuff for kids to understand, especially kids from South Florida who only run Cover-2 Man for 4 years. You can bet your *** that kids like Artie Burns don't know any of these techniques.

This type of defense will make your kids look super slow if they don't know their reads. Kids who run 4.3 will get toasted because their brain is spinning. For example, a kid like Crawford who runs a 4.4 but can easily get roasted while playing our version of Cover-2. While he's "sinking" in his zone, he's reading #2 and his brain is slowing down just enough for #1 to run right by him on a vertical. On tape it looks like #1 just ran right by Crawford and smoked him, but in actuality Crawford was running slower because he was unsure about his read on #2.

It's a defense that has to be repped over and over and over again, but when the kids get it right it can be very ****.

Why do you think they run the 3-4 at the Air Force Academy?

Good point.

 

[MIATL513]

Combine complex scheme, with great athletes who understand and can perform the scheme, you'll have an awesome defense.

 

[bbcane]

Most have 1 position to learn. I mean you are a college student who wants to go to the nfl. Instead of going out study your position. No excuses. I coach pop Warner maybe coach d can use some of our defenses to make it easier.
Also who says they have or were even able to use the whole play book.

 

[rok]

I coach pop Warner maybe coach d can use some of our defenses to make it easier.

 

[Ernie McCracken]

This is almost identical to some of the stuff I run, only my ILB's are called "Mike" and "Will" and my weakside OLB is the "Rush". That "Under 6" play is something I run frequently.

In the Cover-2, the CB is reading #2. The CB will sink until something shows in the flats. If #2 doesn't go to flat (i.e. he runs inside or vertical) the CB will 'man' #1. If #2 and #1 run vertical then it turns into Cover-4 on that side. If it turns into Cover-4 then the LB to that side of the ball must "expand" with #3 (could be a RB) to the flats.

If Miami's willing to sign a bunch of small, slow white kids then I can provide them with plenty of players who will understand their scheme from day one. LOL

But all jokes aside, you can see why most of our kids are having a hard time. This is alot of stuff for kids to understand, especially kids from South Florida who only run Cover-2 Man for 4 years. You can bet your *** that kids like Artie Burns don't know any of these techniques.

This type of defense will make your kids look super slow if they don't know their reads. Kids who run 4.3 will get toasted because their brain is spinning. For example, a kid like Crawford who runs a 4.4 but can easily get roasted while playing our version of Cover-2. While he's "sinking" in his zone, he's reading #2 and his brain is slowing down just enough for #1 to run right by him on a vertical. On tape it looks like #1 just ran right by Crawford and smoked him, but in actuality Crawford was running slower because he was unsure about his read on #2.

It's a defense that has to be repped over and over and over again, but when the kids get it right it can be very ****.

I was listening to a radio interview the other day with the players from Alabama.... THOSE mother****ers are dumber than rocks. South Florida kids are geniuses compared to those country boys.

They have one guy, Cyrus Kuonojingo or something, he could barely say his own name.

So I'd say that's the bright side - if Alabama can learn the defense, I have zero doubt at all in my mind that Miami kids can learn the same defense. Zero doubt. It will just take them some reps.

I'm willing to bet our defense tightens up a lot this year.

 

[poncho0091]

...then the OC is looking for space and when the CB is playing 10+ yards off the receiver, it's obvious where the ball is going to go..

You're an idiot, and you obviously didn't read the defensive playbook attached. Here's the cliffs notes, when the CB is playing soft coverage like that, it means it's the LINEBACKER'S responsibility to cover the short flat.

You're about as bright as all those yahoos who were complaining about "our CB's being 10 yards off the ball" when we lost to Maryland, you obviously don't understand this scheme. Maryland stopped throwing the bubble screen to the WR when Ramon Buchanon started blowing it up. That's how the scheme was designed. The reason it didn't work in the first half is because of poor linebacker play, not because the corners were playing too soft. SMH.

One thing that pops out to me about this scheme is that you live and die by your linebackers, more than any other scheme I know. You really need smart, fast, and strong linebackers to run this.

Listen you tool. You're quick to throw out an insult without understanding anything I'm talking about. It's a shame people can't have a discussion without being a ****. First off I already specified that I'm not holding it against him yet because I understand we are lacking in talent, so don't lump me in with people who say fire him right away. I'm just smart enough to understand if we don't see improvement this year, maybe we need to be looking at the ones making the call. If not, how long are you willing to watch the defense suck? 4, 5, 6 years before you think to look that way?

My reference to what I see is especially in how the players are set presnap. Now I'm sure the lack of talent and experience contributes, but when the cb is that far back, he tends to not have the time to react to short passes. Like you said the LB is responsible for the flat, but I doubt the LB can cover that 10-15 yards the moment the ball is snapped and quickly passed unless he spreads out a little more to be in position to cover it. One of the biggest problems we had last year was that huge space where noone was at. Just like the BC game, they will hit a bunch of bubble screens until we get over there to cover it. Problem is while the LB is in the flat to cover the rb for the possible bubble, the WR is slanting in the gap behind the LB, and in front of the cb and if they execute quick enough, the other LB or safety who may be responsible does not have time to get in there. They killed us with this the first half last year going between the 2. You want to call it poor LB play? Fair enough, but just as bad as the LB play was, positioning on the field was just as bad and the coach can easily fix that. 3-4 is fine, but positioning left us wide open. I've never seen any other team 10+yards back with their CB every play. 5 yards sure, 10+ on some plays sure, but 10+ every time? I feel like the DC's job is to identify this and fix it, but I never saw any adjustment and so we continually got abused with the same plays over and over.

second, I already know that it's very unlikely the dnofrio is going anywhere as long as Golden is there. We will live or die by it. At this point, I support Golden until it can be certain our defense is never going to work with them there. Otherwise, I wait patiently.

Last, as far as the confusion because of the scheme, I can understand and again is why I said, I'm not putting this all on Dnofrio yet. Again though, we need to see improvement this year. These guys have their players now and most are at least sophomores now. I'm not expecting miracles, just improvement. To say this is too hard because they are college players is a weak excuse because its not like the 3-4 is new, and there are other teams that run it with success.

 

[sstcane]

It's a 2-3 year learning curve for these defenses. Zone pattern reading (like Alabama) is difficult, but when you are good at it, it takes away the seams and makes it harder to complete passes because you're not just dropping into open space.

If anyone has played college football you will always have to react to what the offense does. Saban's playbook is almost 400 pages. Don't kid yourselves, these athletes are expected to know this. But if you're playing with as many young guys as we ha last year, there will be breakdowns.

 

[DeadPoets]

This is almost identical to some of the stuff I run, only my ILB's are called "Mike" and "Will" and my weakside OLB is the "Rush". That "Under 6" play is something I run frequently.

In the Cover-2, the CB is reading #2. The CB will sink until something shows in the flats. If #2 doesn't go to flat (i.e. he runs inside or vertical) the CB will 'man' #1. If #2 and #1 run vertical then it turns into Cover-4 on that side. If it turns into Cover-4 then the LB to that side of the ball must "expand" with #3 (could be a RB) to the flats.

If Miami's willing to sign a bunch of small, slow white kids then I can provide them with plenty of players who will understand their scheme from day one. LOL

But all jokes aside, you can see why most of our kids are having a hard time. This is alot of stuff for kids to understand, especially kids from South Florida who only run Cover-2 Man for 4 years. You can bet your *** that kids like Artie Burns don't know any of these techniques.

This type of defense will make your kids look super slow if they don't know their reads. Kids who run 4.3 will get toasted because their brain is spinning. For example, a kid like Crawford who runs a 4.4 but can easily get roasted while playing our version of Cover-2. While he's "sinking" in his zone, he's reading #2 and his brain is slowing down just enough for #1 to run right by him on a vertical. On tape it looks like #1 just ran right by Crawford and smoked him, but in actuality Crawford was running slower because he was unsure about his read on #2.

It's a defense that has to be repped over and over and over again, but when the kids get it right it can be very ****.

I was listening to a radio interview the other day with the players from Alabama.... THOSE mother****ers are dumber than rocks. South Florida kids are geniuses compared to those country boys.

They have one guy, Cyrus Kuonojingo or something, he could barely say his own name.

So I'd say that's the bright side - if Alabama can learn the defense, I have zero doubt at all in my mind that Miami kids can learn the same defense. Zero doubt. It will just take them some reps.

I'm willing to bet our defense tightens up a lot this year.

Sabah is one of the best defensive teachers in the game of football.
Lets keep it real.

 

[jakeman1]

This is almost identical to some of the stuff I run, only my ILB's are called "Mike" and "Will" and my weakside OLB is the "Rush". That "Under 6" play is something I run frequently.

In the Cover-2, the CB is reading #2. The CB will sink until something shows in the flats. If #2 doesn't go to flat (i.e. he runs inside or vertical) the CB will 'man' #1. If #2 and #1 run vertical then it turns into Cover-4 on that side. If it turns into Cover-4 then the LB to that side of the ball must "expand" with #3 (could be a RB) to the flats.

If Miami's willing to sign a bunch of small, slow white kids then I can provide them with plenty of players who will understand their scheme from day one. LOL

But all jokes aside, you can see why most of our kids are having a hard time. This is alot of stuff for kids to understand, especially kids from South Florida who only run Cover-2 Man for 4 years. You can bet your *** that kids like Artie Burns don't know any of these techniques.

This type of defense will make your kids look super slow if they don't know their reads. Kids who run 4.3 will get toasted because their brain is spinning. For example, a kid like Crawford who runs a 4.4 but can easily get roasted while playing our version of Cover-2. While he's "sinking" in his zone, he's reading #2 and his brain is slowing down just enough for #1 to run right by him on a vertical. On tape it looks like #1 just ran right by Crawford and smoked him, but in actuality Crawford was running slower because he was unsure about his read on #2.

It's a defense that has to be repped over and over and over again, but when the kids get it right it can be very ****.

I was listening to a radio interview the other day with the players from Alabama.... THOSE mother****ers are dumber than rocks. South Florida kids are geniuses compared to those country boys.

They have one guy, Cyrus Kuonojingo or something, he could barely say his own name.

So I'd say that's the bright side - if Alabama can learn the defense, I have zero doubt at all in my mind that Miami kids can learn the same defense. Zero doubt. It will just take them some reps.

I'm willing to bet our defense tightens up a lot this year.

Sabah is one of the best defensive teachers in the game of football.
Lets keep it real.

Being real, I can't even say his name.

 

[skyman]

Sometimes its not the students, sometimes its the teachers. Its the reason you can have two guys running the same system and with the same players. Then one coach leaves for a new gig and it just doesnt look the same. I know some want to peddle Donofrio as some kind of great DC but in reality the jury is out on him at the BCS level. Golden can vouch for him all he wants but no one would expect less as the guy was his best man. We want to see results, the excuses have run dry. Put a decent product on the field and stop trying to lower the standards about yards dont matter because the game has changed. Anybody with a brain would know its all relative and you are ranked according to other teams who play under similar circumstances.


Also, I remember my coach ran alot of cover 3 and 2 variants and had a chance to coach DBs for the dade/broward allstar game. He was excited to coach some of the top guys in the area and just be around the talent. The biggest takeaway he had were these kids had NO understanding of zone and never played it in their life. They ran no drills, nothing. With soo little time had no choice but to run man. With the talent down here, if you are going to run zone you basically have a blank slate. Will take time to adjust, because we will have these kids thinking more than anything. The light bulb seems to have come on for Tracy but we will see when the lights are on. Also you see how it affected guys who also made transition from UM to pros. Alot of these guys earlier in decade transitioned well under shannon because they knew how to play man. But when they went to pros and had to know other systems they struggled. Antrel and Phillip come to mind, super talented guys who struggled with transition of more zone concept in pros

 

[Coach Macho]

Sometimes its not the students, sometimes its the teachers. Its the reason you can have two guys running the same system and with the same players. Then one coach leaves for a new gig and it just doesnt look the same. I know some want to peddle Donofrio as some kind of great DC but in reality the jury is out on him at the BCS level. Golden can vouch for him all he wants but no one would expect less as the guy was his best man. We want to see results, the excuses have run dry. Put a decent product on the field and stop trying to lower the standards about yards dont matter because the game has changed. Anybody with a brain would know its all relative and you are ranked according to other teams who play under similar circumstances.


Also, I remember my coach ran alot of cover 3 and 2 variants and had a chance to coach DBs for the dade/broward allstar game. He was excited to coach some of the top guys in the area and just be around the talent. The biggest takeaway he had were these kids had NO understanding of zone and never played it in their life. They ran no drills, nothing. With soo little time had no choice but to run man. With the talent down here, if you are going to run zone you basically have a blank slate. Will take time to adjust, because we will have these kids thinking more than anything. The light bulb seems to have come on for Tracy but we will see when the lights are on. Also you see how it affected guys who also made transition from UM to pros. Alot of these guys earlier in decade transitioned well under shannon because they knew how to play man. But when they went to pros and had to know other systems they struggled. Antrel and Phillip come to mind, super talented guys who struggled with transition of more zone concept in pros

x2 on everything you said.

And the coaching down here is embarrassing. SMH

 

[88]

Sometimes its not the students, sometimes its the teachers. Its the reason you can have two guys running the same system and with the same players. Then one coach leaves for a new gig and it just doesnt look the same. I know some want to peddle Donofrio as some kind of great DC but in reality the jury is out on him at the BCS level. Golden can vouch for him all he wants but no one would expect less as the guy was his best man. We want to see results, the excuses have run dry. Put a decent product on the field and stop trying to lower the standards about yards dont matter because the game has changed. Anybody with a brain would know its all relative and you are ranked according to other teams who play under similar circumstances.


Also, I remember my coach ran alot of cover 3 and 2 variants and had a chance to coach DBs for the dade/broward allstar game. He was excited to coach some of the top guys in the area and just be around the talent. The biggest takeaway he had were these kids had NO understanding of zone and never played it in their life. They ran no drills, nothing. With soo little time had no choice but to run man. With the talent down here, if you are going to run zone you basically have a blank slate. Will take time to adjust, because we will have these kids thinking more than anything. The light bulb seems to have come on for Tracy but we will see when the lights are on. Also you see how it affected guys who also made transition from UM to pros. Alot of these guys earlier in decade transitioned well under shannon because they knew how to play man. But when they went to pros and had to know other systems they struggled. Antrel and Phillip come to mind, super talented guys who struggled with transition of more zone concept in pros

x2 on everything you said.

And the coaching down here is embarrassing. SMH

Where do you coach at again, DC right?

 

[Coach Macho]

Sometimes its not the students, sometimes its the teachers. Its the reason you can have two guys running the same system and with the same players. Then one coach leaves for a new gig and it just doesnt look the same. I know some want to peddle Donofrio as some kind of great DC but in reality the jury is out on him at the BCS level. Golden can vouch for him all he wants but no one would expect less as the guy was his best man. We want to see results, the excuses have run dry. Put a decent product on the field and stop trying to lower the standards about yards dont matter because the game has changed. Anybody with a brain would know its all relative and you are ranked according to other teams who play under similar circumstances.


Also, I remember my coach ran alot of cover 3 and 2 variants and had a chance to coach DBs for the dade/broward allstar game. He was excited to coach some of the top guys in the area and just be around the talent. The biggest takeaway he had were these kids had NO understanding of zone and never played it in their life. They ran no drills, nothing. With soo little time had no choice but to run man. With the talent down here, if you are going to run zone you basically have a blank slate. Will take time to adjust, because we will have these kids thinking more than anything. The light bulb seems to have come on for Tracy but we will see when the lights are on. Also you see how it affected guys who also made transition from UM to pros. Alot of these guys earlier in decade transitioned well under shannon because they knew how to play man. But when they went to pros and had to know other systems they struggled. Antrel and Phillip come to mind, super talented guys who struggled with transition of more zone concept in pros

x2 on everything you said.

And the coaching down here is embarrassing. SMH

Where do you coach at again, DC right?

I was at Western for the last 4 years.

 

[Cane01]

Here's a summary of Golden's defenses going back to his time as DC at UVA. We can all assume that while Coach D is the coordinator, it's Al's D that is being run. The results are kind of a mixed bag, presumably with less talent than he will be able to cultivate at Miami. The numbers prove a steep learning curve, but really good success once the proper players are in the system.

Scoring D. Total D. Rush D. Pass D.

UVA 2001. 74. 93. 94. 70.
UVA 2002. 50. 100. 108. 59.
UVA 2003. 26. 67. 67. 63.
UVA 2004. 17. 18. 24. 27.
UVA 2005. 40. 60. 62. 71
TEM 2006. 118. 117. 119. 71
TEM 2007. 53. 44. 70. 21
TEM 2008. 47. 81. 87. 80
TEM 2009. 39. 32. 18. 74
TEM 2010. 16. 16. 47. 15
MIA 2011. 17. 45. 68. 29
MIA 2012. 82. 116. 112. 102

Hopefully, a long run with his system will allow for continuity and consistent results similar to UVA 2003-2004 and Temple 2009-2010.

 

[bbcane]

Here's a summary of Golden's defenses going back to his time as DC at UVA. We can all assume that while Coach D is the coordinator, it's Al's D that is being run. The results are kind of a mixed bag, presumably with less talent than he will be able to cultivate at Miami. The numbers prove a steep learning curve, but really good success once the proper players are in the system.

Scoring D. Total D. Rush D. Pass D.

UVA 2001. 74. 93. 94. 70.
UVA 2002. 50. 100. 108. 59.
UVA 2003. 26. 67. 67. 63.
UVA 2004. 17. 18. 24. 27.
UVA 2005. 40. 60. 62. 71
TEM 2006. 118. 117. 119. 71
TEM 2007. 53. 44. 70. 21
TEM 2008. 47. 81. 87. 80
TEM 2009. 39. 32. 18. 74
TEM 2010. 16. 16. 47. 15
MIA 2011. 17. 45. 68. 29
MIA 2012. 82. 116. 112. 102

Hopefully, a long run with his system will allow for continuity and consistent results similar to UVA 2003-2004 and Temple 2009-2010.

WOW. Pretty much says it all

 

[FullyERicht]

This is almost identical to some of the stuff I run, only my ILB's are called "Mike" and "Will" and my weakside OLB is the "Rush". That "Under 6" play is something I run frequently.

In the Cover-2, the CB is reading #2. The CB will sink until something shows in the flats. If #2 doesn't go to flat (i.e. he runs inside or vertical) the CB will 'man' #1. If #2 and #1 run vertical then it turns into Cover-4 on that side. If it turns into Cover-4 then the LB to that side of the ball must "expand" with #3 (could be a RB) to the flats.

If Miami's willing to sign a bunch of small, slow white kids then I can provide them with plenty of players who will understand their scheme from day one. LOL

But all jokes aside, you can see why most of our kids are having a hard time. This is alot of stuff for kids to understand, especially kids from South Florida who only run Cover-2 Man for 4 years. You can bet your *** that kids like Artie Burns don't know any of these techniques.

This type of defense will make your kids look super slow if they don't know their reads. Kids who run 4.3 will get toasted because their brain is spinning. For example, a kid like Crawford who runs a 4.4 but can easily get roasted while playing our version of Cover-2. While he's "sinking" in his zone, he's reading #2 and his brain is slowing down just enough for #1 to run right by him on a vertical. On tape it looks like #1 just ran right by Crawford and smoked him, but in actuality Crawford was running slower because he was unsure about his read on #2.

It's a defense that has to be repped over and over and over again, but when the kids get it right it can be very ****.

This is almost identical to some of the stuff I run, only my ILB's are called "Mike" and "Will" and my weakside OLB is the "Rush". That "Under 6" play is something I run frequently.

In the Cover-2, the CB is reading #2. The CB will sink until something shows in the flats. If #2 doesn't go to flat (i.e. he runs inside or vertical) the CB will 'man' #1. If #2 and #1 run vertical then it turns into Cover-4 on that side. If it turns into Cover-4 then the LB to that side of the ball must "expand" with #3 (could be a RB) to the flats.

If Miami's willing to sign a bunch of small, slow white kids then I can provide them with plenty of players who will understand their scheme from day one. LOL

But all jokes aside, you can see why most of our kids are having a hard time. This is alot of stuff for kids to understand, especially kids from South Florida who only run Cover-2 Man for 4 years. You can bet your *** that kids like Artie Burns don't know any of these techniques.

This type of defense will make your kids look super slow if they don't know their reads. Kids who run 4.3 will get toasted because their brain is spinning. For example, a kid like Crawford who runs a 4.4 but can easily get roasted while playing our version of Cover-2. While he's "sinking" in his zone, he's reading #2 and his brain is slowing down just enough for #1 to run right by him on a vertical. On tape it looks like #1 just ran right by Crawford and smoked him, but in actuality Crawford was running slower because he was unsure about his read on #2.

It's a defense that has to be repped over and over and over again, but when the kids get it right it can be very ****.

I was listening to a radio interview the other day with the players from Alabama.... THOSE mother****ers are dumber than rocks. South Florida kids are geniuses compared to those country boys.

They have one guy, Cyrus Kuonojingo or something, he could barely say his own name.

So I'd say that's the bright side - if Alabama can learn the defense, I have zero doubt at all in my mind that Miami kids can learn the same defense. Zero doubt. It will just take them some reps.

I'm willing to bet our defense tightens up a lot this year.

Sabah is one of the best defensive teachers in the game of football.
Lets keep it real.

Al Golden, as a defensive teacher, at his last two stops, took sub 100 total defenses to top 20 in the country. The man knows how to coach, period.

 

[Coach Macho]

Golden and his guys coach their *** off. I don't think there's any debating that. And they're extremely detail-oriented. They don't miss a thing. They really stress the details, the little things that matter.

 

[Ernie McCracken]

Sometimes its not the students, sometimes its the teachers. Its the reason you can have two guys running the same system and with the same players. Then one coach leaves for a new gig and it just doesnt look the same. I know some want to peddle Donofrio as some kind of great DC but in reality the jury is out on him at the BCS level. Golden can vouch for him all he wants but no one would expect less as the guy was his best man. We want to see results, the excuses have run dry. Put a decent product on the field and stop trying to lower the standards about yards dont matter because the game has changed. Anybody with a brain would know its all relative and you are ranked according to other teams who play under similar circumstances.


Also, I remember my coach ran alot of cover 3 and 2 variants and had a chance to coach DBs for the dade/broward allstar game. He was excited to coach some of the top guys in the area and just be around the talent. The biggest takeaway he had were these kids had NO understanding of zone and never played it in their life. They ran no drills, nothing. With soo little time had no choice but to run man. With the talent down here, if you are going to run zone you basically have a blank slate. Will take time to adjust, because we will have these kids thinking more than anything. The light bulb seems to have come on for Tracy but we will see when the lights are on. Also you see how it affected guys who also made transition from UM to pros. Alot of these guys earlier in decade transitioned well under shannon because they knew how to play man. But when they went to pros and had to know other systems they struggled. Antrel and Phillip come to mind, super talented guys who struggled with transition of more zone concept in pros

If these young men are running man to man all the time and never being exposed to zone in any way, you're doing the young men a disservice.

At the college and pro level, you have to be able to play both man and zone. You might as well get them ready for the big lights.

 

[Coach Macho]

Most of the schools down here (with the athletes) don't play zone.

D'Onofrio came into our school one time and was shootin' the **** with our head coach for a while. D'Onofrio basically said "You try to put in your defense and the first thing these kids ask you is when can they play press-man."

Golden and D'Onofrio were probably in shock when they first got here.

 

[Coach Macho]

I think there's several reasons why Miami's CB's never panned out in the NFL. The fact that they ran primarily press-man with help from future Pro Bowl Safeties is one of the reasons. Combine that with the fact that they never had to cover more than 2 seconds.